I sometimes drop the word "extrafalarious" into conversation just to see how people react. It's pretty fun.

And example would be something like, "Bush's contention that Iraq was hiding WMDs in Garfield lunch boxes strikes me as a bit extrafalarious, wouldn't you say?"

Since it's a twist on the spanish word extrafalario, (which basically means "zany") it's meaningless in English, but has that certain 'brainy' sound to it that causes most people to react to its usage as if they knew exactly what it meant, so as not to reveal their deficient vocabulary.

Try it out -- most people will just kind of look at you and nod in that "I have no fucking clue what he just said, but there's no way I'm going to let on" kind of way.

The rare time someone asks what it means, you just casually say, "you know.. extrafalarious... it's like 'zany'". Then you get to giggle to yourself when they go and use it themselves one day in a conversation

Ahhh such extrafalarious trickery!

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

I was absent-mindedly surfing around after dinner last night , and my girlfriend snuck up behind me wearing one of those skimpy 'Santa's elf' outfits you sometimes see in *ahem* literary magazines. I was told that Santa thought I had been too good this year and she had been sent to balance things out.

I didn't use to believe in Santa Claus, but that was the best goddamn present EVAR

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

Sure they are, just like NEC PowerPc chip was so much better than intel up right until macs switched to intel chips,

What the fuck does NEC have to do with PowerPC? The PowerPC was originally designed by Apple, Motorola, and IBM. The last version that Apple ever used - the G5 - was developed by IBM, and it fucking rocks.

But don't believe me.. ask Microsoft. Ask Sony. Hell.. ask Nintendo.

As for the Mighty Mouse -- it might not be one button anymore, but it's definitely a piece of shit. It's a perfect example of form over function, and a mouse is one piece of hardware that needs to be absolutely functional above all else.

The Mighty Mouse's right 'button' is notoriously picky about registering clicks, and the design of the scroll ball is such that it collects finger-gunk just like the old ball-mice did and stops scrolling reliably. Problem is that unlike the old ball-mice, the MM needs to be completely disassembled in order to clean the ball out, and cannot be reassembled without the use of glue.

It's shit.

That said, the Mac OS has been fully compatible with multi-button mice since the very first version of OSX was released.

This comment was edited on Nov 28, 11:19.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

You know... this whole censoring of printed words really strikes me as being completely fucking stupid. What do they really think it's accomplishing?

Take Queen Bitch, for example. That's the name of the song. It's printed that way on the liner notes, and yet somehow we're not supposed to know that when they list it as "Queen *****"??

Do they really think anyone seeing that is going to think the name of the song is "Queen Star Star Star Star Star"?? Of course not!! Their brain is going to think the word "Bitch", thus totally negating the purpose of blanking it out in the first place.

What's even worse is that there are (probably.. strangely.. sadly) plenty of people out there who have never even heard of the song, so what happens in their minds when they see that?

In fact one of the very first missions where you need to shoot at a guy on top of the food court signs is so frustratingly annoying I was ready to return the game right then and there. And as far as I know shooting him is the only way to attack him.

Nope.

If you go to the far end of the food court stalls that he's hiding on, you can use some barrels to get up there and get all stabby on him with the katana (although I find that once you're up there, blasting him with the uzi is still more effective since you have a perfect shot).

You need to be quick getting up there though, since he'll start lobbing grenades if you take too long, which can make things .... tricky

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

Nah. It's strict, to be sure -- and probably unnecessary as well.. but I've played through that game four times now starting with a level 1 character, and the save system works just fine.

The thing about Dead Rising is that the game is built around a design philosophy that actually expects and rewards replaying it. That concept trips a lot of people up, and understandably so -- we're used to playing a narrative story straight-through from beginning to end with little repetition, so the concept of re-doing sections until we've mastered them is unfamiliar.

But this game is actually designed to get easier the more you play sections and work out the most efficient way through.. if you die, you still keep your XP, so you'll have that much of an easier time getting through there the next time.. and - I really can't stress this enough - there are LOTS of places to save your progress, and they're never that far away once you know where to find them (which is another product of having played through areas repeatedly).

Once you hit about level 25 or 30 (there are 50), it is really very hard to get yourself killed as long as you think about what you're doing and don't go into a situation without at least a bit of a plan.. at level 50, you're nearly impossible to kill unless you totally fuck up.

Seriously -- I understand why people complain about the save system, but they really don't need to. It absolutely works 100% just fine.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

I wonder if they'll add in more save points I understand the console game only allows one save.

The survival aspect of the game is kind of designed around that though, and you really don't need more than one once you get a handle on how things work..

As soon as you've spent a bit of time in the mall and found all the washrooms (which is where you can save when you're not in the security room), you realise that:

A) they're really not very far apartB) there's an incredibly useful shortcut in one of them that means you WILL be going through a bathroom a couple of times per outing, so you can save a whole bunchC) the game gets billions of times better once you're max level, so you might as well just replay parts anyway until you areD) once you are it's not easy to die unless you're doing something stupidE) having only one save really isn't a problem at all and you'll probably only save in the security room after a while anyway..

oh yeah, and F) it's SUCH a freakin' incredible game.

This comment was edited on Nov 22, 14:57.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

I've heard such conflicting word about leaving your whole beans at room temp or the freezer. I got a pamphlet from Caribou Coffee that said leave your beans at room temp and to NOT freeze the beans. Maybe they just want them to go bad so you have to buy more....

I've actually heard the same thing -- that the freezer is actually too cold and dry for optimal storage.

I compromise and use a really well-built airtight container that i keep in the fridge, but I've been told that as long as your beans are kept in a dark, airtight container, that even the counter is just fine as long as the room isn't hot..

That said, the BEST damn cup of coffee I've EVER had was in Cambodia using beans from Vietnam (the fox-poo beans), and it was not only freakishly hot there, but just ridiculously humid (the air was basically pure water as far as I could tell), so who knows.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

Other than ebay - anyone have a link to where I can buy one of those Zassenhaus hand grinder knee grinder thingies?

I think I am going to call a friend that has a contact in Germany. Probably be easiest to get one?

Atta BOY! You won't be disappointed

TBH, I'd just order one online -- I doubt you'll have any problems. The biggest issue with those is that they can be VERY tough to come by, as they aren't produced in large quantities and are in pretty high demand.

The store that Enahs linked to on the first page claims to have stock on the same model that I have. It's real pretty, but I dunno what your kitchen looks like... I know they recently started producing a pretty swanky-looking black model, but I haven't seen one for sale anywhere yet.

oops -- EDIT:

MF - do you have any floaties in your coffee (I suppose depending on how coarse it is) using that metal strainer? I used one for a while and was not impressed. Probably just had a crappy one.

Nope -- not a thing. I know what you're talking about though, because I buddy of mine has a similar filter that leaves a lot of sediment in the coffee.

The one I have has a kind of interlocking grid-pattern of tiny slits in the metal (for lack of a better way to describe it).. they're so small you almost can't see them when you look at it... it basically looks solid until you hold it up to the light. I have no idea how they make such a thing, but it's a keeper!

As far as grind goes, I like a strong brew, so I go for something just a bit coarser than an espresso grind.

The Zass has a thumbscrew that you can set to anything from a rock-salt texture right down to almost a flour-like powder for Turkish coffee... I'm set somewhere back a little ways from full-pulverisation

This comment was edited on Nov 16, 15:36.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

Though I have no idea how long it takes and if an electric version is really important.

The Zassenhaus hand grinders are pretty much unanimously regarded as being the best available (although Peugeot makes fantastic grinders as well -- especially for pepper).

I have one of the Zass 156BU 'Knee-style' hand grinders myself and absolutely love the thing. It's a really fine piece of machinery, and the kind of thing that will last not only a lifetime, but for generations. It's seriously that simple and well-built.

It only takes a minute or two to grind up enough beans for a normal pot of coffee -- longer than an electric grinder for sure, but certainly nothing to complain about.

One thing I really like about it is that it's so damn quiet in comparison to anything electric.. I live in a loft, so my GF really appreciates that when she's trying to sleep-in (she's a tea drinker, so the promise of a fresh cuppa Joe holds no sway)

The deal with the hand-grinders is that the grinding action produces vastly less heat than an electric grinder does, and the heat produced by grinding is actually sufficient to destroy some of the more volatile (and tasty) oils in the coffee bean. They also produce a much more even grind, which is important if you're making espresso. Because virtually all the oils are preserved, you get a much tastier cup of coffee as a result.

An electric burr grinder is the next best thing to a hand grinder for this reason (the blade type is an absolute no-no if you care about maximising flavour).

That said, most people are only likely to notice the difference when using freshly roasted, high-quality beans, since many of those same oils are destroyed just as easily by time, poor roasting standards, and improper storage. Plus.. you know.. it's a bit more convenient having it ground for you. Personally, I would NEVER go back to an electric grinder since getting my Zass, but whatevs..

Also, as Blue mentions, DO NOT use boiling water to make your coffee. Allow it to cool to ~92c. degrees and you will get much better flavour.

I'm with him on the Melita cone-brewing method as well, although rather than paper filters, I use a gold-foil (at least in colour) filter I got years ago that's made by Nissan. Cuts down on waste, and the flavour is just tremendous.

This comment was edited on Nov 16, 12:59.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

No. The police that were called in were the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, AKA "The Mounties").

They are Canada's federal police force, but actually (confusingly) are responsible for all kinds of policing in Canada. Different provinces and cities use them for different reasons, so I'm not totally sure why they responded here, but I'm assuming it's because they are responsible for domestic security and counter-terrorism.

-----I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.